


The Wrong Way

by demonsonthemoon



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: 2M2M re-writing, Evil!Juno, M/M, alternative universe, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 10:57:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14103864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsonthemoon/pseuds/demonsonthemoon
Summary: "My name's Juno Steel. I used to be a cop. I used to be a private eye. Now I'm a bit of not-so-bad-looking piece of muscle for a few privileged, and a shadow breathing on the neck of a few others. You don't find that written on my card, though.The only kind of people on Mars with ideals and a card to advertise them are the stupid ones."- A re-write of Murderous Mask, in which Juno is a little less good and works for the Kanagawas.





	The Wrong Way

**Author's Note:**

> Title from "AK-47" by School is Cool, which I am obsessed with because it feels so /Juno/ to me.

_The wrong way still gotta be better  
Than to sit around doing nothing everyday_

 

Hyperion City.  
There are only three types of people in this place. Those who eat, those who get eaten and those who get the hell out.  
Leaving has never really been an option for me. And I'm still kicking, so I guess you know what choice I made. 

A few years ago, I saved a guy. It was a nasty fight, one that gave me a few good bruises, a blaster burn where a shot grazed one of my ribs, a grudge the size of an arm, a fair amount of money in a shifty bank and an opportunity.  
A word from the Kanagawas, and I had become a big enough fish I might just survive in Mars' acidic waters. 

My name's Juno Steel. I used to be a cop. I used to be a private eye. Now I'm a bit of not-so-bad-looking piece of muscle for a few privileged, and a shadow breathing on the neck of a few others. You don't find that written on my card, though.

The only kind of people on Mars with ideals and a card to advertise them are the stupid ones. The really smart ones are the ones who left, of course, but if you're redeemable enough, you might just get the stupid beaten out of you. Took me 33 years. But at least I'm settled now.

 

I was 36 when I got a call from Min Kanagawa asking me to come and clean up my mess as well as her husband's corpse if I could be so obliged.

“Pretty sure I puked down my own toilet last night, Min, not yours.”

The remark earned me a dry chuckle. “Oh, don't try to sound smart with me. I've got a death threat with your name on it graffitied on my wall and no patience for your little games.”

I didn't let the surprise seep out through my voice. “A death threat, uh? I usually get those directly at my flat.”

“Clock's ticking, Juno. I'm a busy woman. More so now that Croesus' dead.”

“Fine. I'll come take a look at your crime scene.”

“You're a gem, Juno darling. Oh, and one more thing. Dark Matters somehow heard about what happened and sent one of their dogs to sniff around. I'm sure you don't mind doing some baby-sitting.”

“Mi-” She hung up on me.

There was no point in wasting breath barking when the leash was already tight around my neck, which didn't mean I didn't waste breath on swearing instead. I shrugged into a long coat, put a hat on, and stepped out into the disaster city I somehow still call home.

Someone once told me I had a tendency to love the things that want to do me harm, and I told him it couldn't be true considering how I hate this place.

A car ride to an uncomfortable height later, and I was ushered into the Kanagawas' flying mansion. I was greeted by the hard lighting of a hallway designed so that every of your facial feature would be picked up by the camera, in the most unflattering of manners. I resisted looking at the thing, instead following the person who had stood up to greet me. I could vaguely recognised her from previous visits, though I didn't know anything about her name except that it ended in Kanagawa. I rarely took the time to chat with the lowly people, except if there was something I needed from them. There were currently four Kanagawas on my contact list – well, three now that Croesus had kicked it – and it was already enough trouble to last me a lifetime.

The Kanagawa woman lead me to a room in one of the smaller hallways, where a tall man was standing, idly playing with the stopper of a glass carafe. I was immediately more interested in what liquid was contained in the thing, but was distracted from this straightforward train of through by a graceful flip of the man's wrist. I followed the movement through his arm, past his shoulder and to his face, where I was greeted by a wolfish grin that openly let sharp teeth show.

I felt his throat dry out suddenly. This man looked like he would eat me alive then pick his teeth without a care in the world, and I would thank him for it.

I narrowed my eyes, immediately suspicious, then let out a small smile of my own. If this was the person I was supposed to babysit, the job promised to be both a lot more interesting and a lot more complicated than I had first thought.

The man put down the carafe stopper and extended a manicured hand. “Agent Rex Glass, supernatural division of the Dark Matters agency. Are you the poor soul asked to supervise me?”

“Juno Steel.”

“Juno. It just rolls on the tongue.” And it truly did. The way Glass pronounced it, my name sounded like something you call the stars on a really quiet night, daring a guilty look beyond the Hyperion dome.

“Steel to you. We're not friends.”

“Oh, but give us time. And do call me Rex, only my mother calls me Agent.” His voice was rich and smooth. I have to admit it threw me off-balance a bit. I was used to be shouted at, sneered at, condescended at, sometimes openly manipulated, but this... This was subtle and warm and heady.

“I don't care what people call you, Glass. I've got better things to do than look over your shoulder and make sure you don't break any toy, so let's get a move on.”

“Oh, but with pleasure, Mister Steel,” he replied. “I was only waiting for you. I am so very impatient to see what this curse has in store for us!”

I gave a nod to the Kanagawa lady that was still waiting for us, carefully out of our way and probably of that of any camera in the room. I hadn't been here before, so I couldn't be exactly sure. She started leading us through a set of hallways.

“What's that curse you're talking about?” I kept my tone as neutral as possible. I wasn't here to investigate fairytales, and I don't believe in ghost. Not the kind that can curse you at least. I just had a job to do, and that meant I had to know what I was working with.

“Oh, but the Curse of the Death Mask of Grimpatheutis, of course.”

I gave him my best unimpressed stare.

He seemed honestly taken aback. “What, with your involvement in this case, I would have thought you'd be aware of the basic facts! The mask that killed Croesus Kanagawa belonged to an ancient Martian. The alcove it was found in is said to be engraved with a curse, promising to kill every soul who disturbs it.”

“Uh. Must have been a lot drunker than I thought yesterday. Don't remember pissing off an old alien ghost.”

“The actual wording of the curse is rather vague,” Glass continued very seriously. “Which is very unfortunate for us. Specific wording can go a great way to restrain a curse's power, you see. The vaguer the words, the more risks there are that the spell will go off in dangerous and unexpected ways.”

“And in this case I guess there's nothing specifying what kind of behaviour is classified as 'disturbing' the mask?”

“Exactly!” Glass' eyes sparkled as he exclaimed this, like he was talking to a surprisingly bright pupil who had just exceeded his expectations. The excitement in his voice could only be described as _adorable_ , and it made me uncomfortable. “Such an ancient spell should be taken seriously, Mister Steel. Especially since it's targeting you directly.”

I shrugged. The woman in front of us started to slow down slightly. “If a ghost wants me dead, he can step in the queue. I've got more likely threats to waste my breath on.”

“So you're a non-believer then?”

“Can't believe in something that isn't there,” I said curtly, stopping as our guide did so.

“Body's in this aisle,” she said, voice cold and pitched low. “Just keep walking forward until you find the case. You'll notice it.”

Glass stepped in front of me. “Allow me.” He opened the door and gestured with his arm, an imitation of some kind of chivalry dead since hundred of years.

I walked into the room and had to pause for a moment. I hadn't been in this part of the mansion before. I knew Croesus has some kind of art collection, the man couldn't stop blabbering about it if someone gave him the opportunity to start, but I'd had no idea before this moment that his interests were so specific or his collection so extansive.

“Incredible!” Glass exclaimed behind me. I could imagine the stars in his eyes as he took it all in. “Dozens of death masks, rows upon rows! And those are guardian statues, supposed to protect the dead in their journey to the afterlife! Oh, this is simply breathtaking. Maybe it was where he wanted to die all along.”

“Ah,” I huffed out. “Obviously you didn't know the man. Croesus Kanagawa wasn't the kind of man to consider something as frivolous as death. He was above that.”

“But clearly not as high as he wanted, considering our current circumstances.”

We stepped further inside the gallery, and reached another set of door which Glass promptly opened for me. I eyed him with a cautious eye, but he just smiled. It seemed like a smooth and easy routine for him.

The lights suddenly turned off as we reached the next showing room. We heard the howling of wind.

“The ghost?” Glass asked, stepping closer to me in an almost protective way.

I didn't say anything. I didn't belive in ghosts, after all.

“Juuuuno... Sssssteel...” a chilling voice hissed, seemingly coming from every corner of the room at once. “You... must... pay...”

I took another step forward and felt a hand close around my upper arm.

“Are you sure this would be wise, Mister Steel? If the ghost is angry at you, staying close to exits might be the best way to go.”

I shrugged him off. “Grow up, Glass.” I started speaking louder. “I'm not scared of some stupid ghost that doesn't exist! Cut it off.”

There was another howl and a rattling sound, then a low rumble that grew into a laugh.

The lights came back on, and Cassandra Kanagawa stepped out from behind a small-scale reconstruction of a mausoleum. Her bleached-blond hair had grown some more since the last time I had seen her, and was showing a good few centimeters of jet black roots. She was wearing her usual apparel of ripped jeans and open leather jacket over her t-shirt, but was mostly recognisable by her wide grin.

“Oh, Juno, you always have to ruin all the fun!”

“Yeah, you sure look heartbroken, Cass,” I replied drily.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Glass slowly compose himself again.

“Well, at least you brought a friend to keep me entertained this time, so I can forgive you.”

Glass – courage apparently foolishly regained – stepped forward and offered his hand. “Agent Rex Glass, Dark Matters affiliate. It's an honor to meet you, Ms Kanagawa.”

Cassandra looked once at his long fingers, raised an eyebrow, then turned towards me again. “Mom convinced you to do her dirty work again?”

“You say that as if half of the messes I've had to deal with over these past years weren't caused by you and your brother.”

“Well,” Cassandra replied with another of her trademark smirks, “Kids will be kids.”

“I don't think you two have anything in common with most kids, Cass.”

She shrugged. “Well, life will be life.” She looked at Glass once more. “I suppose you want to see the old man now?”

Glass nodded curtly. He seemed to have understood that Cassandra was to be treated as a wild and dangerous animal. Good boy.

“Just warning you, Juno. I wasn't actually trying to scare you. Reasons enough to feel faint when looking at that scene.”

She lead us through an archway that opened to a room empty save for a single glass case. A glass case covered in red and gore, with a message painted in blood on the wall behind it.

“YOU'RE NEXT JUNO STEEL” Huge red letters, shaky from being traced with a finger. I felt my stomach twist.

Then I looked down and focused on the display case. Bad idea.

Vaguely looking at it and seeing a mass of red was one thing. Trying to identify how much of it there really was, and imagining that all of that red had once been housed inside a human body was another. This wasn't the clean work of a laser assassination. It also probably hadn't been a painless death.

I felt acid make its way up my throat and clamped my jaws shut. I could see from Cassandra's smirk that she knew exactly how I was feeling and was savouring it like a precious delicacy.

Sometimes I had to wonder why we were friends.

I gingerly came closer to the crime scene, close enough to take a look at the corpse through the gore. The lower half of it was covered in blood and the upper half... wasn't there. A metallic contraption covered the corpse's head, oddly shaped and looking much too small to contain anything like a human head. There was a dried crust forming on the edge of it. I didn't get to see anything else before I felt his body nearly fall backwards and took a step away to avoid falling. I then strategically backed away.

Cassandra had the decency of looking worried for a half a second before smiling again.

I wanted to puke and to run away and most of all for all that blood to be inside a human again. I was far from Croesus' biggest fan, but a death like this just felt wrong. This was the 24th century. People were supposed to die cleanly, quickly. They were supposed to look good in their coffin and then disappear, leaving behind a family who would move on and forget. It was all supposed to be stainless.

Glass didn't seem to have the same qualms. At all. He moved closer almost with glee. “Incredible!” He whispered, almost touching the body that was protruding out of the broken case. He remembered himself in time and took out a pair of plastic gloves from his coat pocket.

“Well, that's my cue to go,” Cassandra said. “Have fun with the blood-soaked box.”

I felt my stomach twist one more time at the mention, but recovered enough to grab Cassandra by the arm. “Wait up a sec, Cass. I've got a few questions about last night.”

“Is that so?” She replied coldly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Mostly one, actually. Where were you when Croesus died?”

Cassandra started laughing, a dry and low laugh that felt like needles against your skin. “You feel like revisiting your old detective persona?" She asked.

And maybe that hurt a little. Maybe because it was a little bit true. Min had asked me to come deal with a murder scene, and maybe it was because my name was written all over it. But she'd been vague about what kind of “dealing with” she wanted exactly, and I couldn't help but feel like she had wanted me to do _this_. Investigate.

That was why the Dark Matters guy was here too, of course, but the Kanagawas have a tendency not to trust anyone who's not on either their payroll or their blackmail list. So maybe I was here just to keep an eye on Agent Glass, or just because someone within the walls of the Kanagawa mansion wanted their eyes on me, or maybe I was here because Min really did believe I could figure out what had happened. Time would tell.

"Might as well give a hand to Agent Glass so he's off yours more quickly," I replied to Cassandra.

She eyed me for a while, obviously unconvinced. "I didn't do it. I've got an ally-thing, or whatever. Proof I didn't do it."

"You mean an alibi?"

"Sure. That thing. Look."

She fished out a fancy comms from her pants pocket, fiddled with it a bit and pulled out a video. It was a montage of photos and short video clips, all time stamped, and some also captioned.

"I went out with some friends last night," Cass explained. "Took all of these to update my feeds, and made this video as a recap post."

"That's... surprisingly convincing." I had never thought that the Kanagawas tendency to document their whole life could be an advantage in some situations, but I had been proven wrong. "I guess I can let you go now. Any idea where Cecil is?"

"Yeah." She pointed to a metal gate that decorated the wall of the room opposite to the one we'd come through. It was dark, full of spikes and twisting designs, and clearly belonged on the set of the cheap scary movies some people liked to watch on Halloween. I was sure it would creak when we pulled it open.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Cassandra shrugged. "He decided to move rooms a few months ago. Wanted to redecorate."

"And he picked the creepy room full of tombs?"

"Well, it's Cecil."

I sighed. She had a point there. "Yeah. Sure. Don't know why I asked."

"Well, good luck, _Junebug_." She sing-songed, emphasizing the nickname that Cecil had given me years ago. I gave her my most unimpressed glare in return. Then she started cackling, gave me a small wave and walked away.

I turned my attention back to Glass, who was still messing with the interior of the glass case.

"Have you found anything?" I asked, then watched him unfold himself. _Damn_ , he was tall. And neatly-proportioned. And his uniform suited him. I had to restrain myself not to fake a cough just as an excuse to look away.

"I have! Look at this-"

Glass put his gloved hand flat against the metal of the fucked-up mask of whoever, and pressed down slightly. The mask opened up with a strange sound, more blood pouring out of it.

Mercifully, it didn't fall off of the remnants of Croesus' head.

It looked more like a mask now. It was still a weird mask, with too many orifices and sharp angles, but a mask nonetheless.

"It apparently changes shape on contact. I'm guessing that killing Croesus was only a matter of getting the case open and pushing him a little. Then the murderer only had to watch the mask do its dirty work."

I nodded. It made sense, as a story. Except that... I looked at the case a bit more closely, forcing myself to make abstraction of the blood.

“Those are some fancy locks, to store some piece of cursed garbage.”

Glass took on an offended expression that was too theatrical for me to feel concerned at all.

“Wouldn't be easy to open. There have to be more convenient ways of killing a guy than... this.”

“That is true,” Glass hummed, nearly putting his gloved hand on his chin, but stopping just in time and shaking his head at himself before taking off the bloody garments. “Was your conversation with Ms Kanagawa enlightening in any way?”

“Not exactly sure. She wasn't here on the night of the murder. I wanna have a talk with her brother, Cecil.”

“Oh, please do. I'll just be here finishing my investigation on the mask.”

Was he serious? He looked so carefree, humming under his breath as he sorted through a few plastic bags he had laid down on the ground and filled with samples. He looked like the kind of guy who had absolutely no idea how to act within a house like the Kanagawa's.

“You _are_ aware that I've been asked to keep an eye on you, right?”

“Um?” Glass looked up, innocent ignorance painted on his face.

“Have you got any idea of where you are? Who the Kanagawas are? Who _I_ am?”

“Well, I know the basics, of course. I'm in the Kanagawa family's mansion, a family of stream stars and criminal overlords, and I've been told that your name is Juno Steel. And that a ghost wants you dead."

He pointed at the bloody letters on the walls.

I sighed. “I thought you Dark Matters people were supposed to be professionals.” I couldn't help myself and rolled my eyes. I could feel the old instinct kicking in. The one that told me I should _care_ . That I could maybe _help_ this guy, who was apparently in over his head. Perhaps he wasn't entirely as innocent as he seemed, but I wouldn't ever find out more about that or about him if he got himself killed because he was too stupid to know the rules of the game. “Even if I wasn't there to make sure you stay within the lines, this isn't the kind of place you should stay alone in. There are a few things in this place that would be happy to rip you to pieces. One of them being the guy we're gonna visit now.”

“Oh, Juno-”

“It's Steel to you, Glass.

“I'd love to come with you on your little adventure, but I do have a job to do. And that job is to investigate the Mask and its curse for Dark Matters. I absolutely cannot justify getting distracted by your pretty face.”

His flattery was heavy on the nose, but it didn't actually stink. Or maybe I was just that desperate that I would look at his sharp teeth and think _what a good way to go_ . How long had it been anyway since I'd last... Yeah, no, better not go down _that_ particular rabbit hole.

“You've got two choices here, Glass. Either you follow me and we can come back to deal with your precious mask later, or I get you kicked out of this place. It would probably get _me_ kicked out as well, so consider for a moment how lovely that option sounds for me.”

He pouted. Honest to god pouted. It shouldn't actually have worked and made me feel bad, but somehow... It made me want to punch him in the face, if I was being honest.

I kept the instinct railed in. There would always be time for that later.

“Well, if you're going to be such a difficult negotiator...” He sighed, picked up his sample bags and shoved them into the pockets of his long coat. “I guess you're not leaving me with any choice at all, Mister Steel. Let's go, then. Where to?”

I pointed at the looming black gate and waited for a reaction.

“You must be joking.”

I shrugged. “ _I'_ m not. Maybe Cassandra is, it's her style. But there's only one way to find out.”

And in through the creepy door we went. The metal gate did ominously creak when we opened it, just as I'd predicted. Glass seemed very intrigued by it all.

We stepped in through a dark hallway, much narrower than I had expected. I felt chills run down my spine. The Kanagawas were usually fans of well-lighted and large spaces. Anything that would allow you to get nice shots at minimal prices. This was the complete opposite of that. We could barely see anything in front of us.

“So, what exactly is your relationship to the Kanagawas? I'm sorry to say it, but you do stand out a bit among the family.”

I laughed at that. That was quite the understatement. The Kanagawas kept things in the family usually, and the family had pretty strong hereditary traits. They all looked the same. Meanwhile, I had a different nose, a different smile, a totally different head shape, without talking about my much darker skin tone.

“Don't worry, I'm only an honorary member. Got hired by the family when I was still working a detective gig. Saved their son. I guess they wanted to punish me for that, so they decided to keep me around.”

“By their son, do you mean...”

“Cecil, yeah. That decision started me down the very dark path I'm still walking now.” I shrugged. I guess a lot of people would find my choices in the past few years quite questionable, but I wasn't obviously bothered by it all. You do what you have to to survive, especially in a place like Hyperion City. The person I was five years ago would be disappointed, sure. But at least I was still alive. I had a good enough life. A decent apartment. Enough cash to buy all the whiskey I wanted. A job that got me in just enough trouble to keep things interesting. And the begrudging protection of one of the biggest crime family in the city. What more can a lady ask for?

“There are always two ways to walk a path, Juno. And an infinite amount of other possibilities if you dare go off the beaten tracks.”

I didn't correct Glass when he used my first name. I had a vague idea it probably wouldn't do much good, but I was also bothered by something else. I could hear a sort of electronic humming sound seemingly all around us, as well as strange footsteps at some distance.

As I pointed out before, I knew Cecil. So I put a hand on my blaster.

“I could show you some of those other paths, if you want Juno.”

“Not interested,” I replied, hoping Glass would get the hint and finally shut up. I was trying to count the things. But it wasn't going to work if the man kept blabbing.

“That really is a-” He seemed to finally notice the weird noises. I held in a sigh of relief. “What are those noises?”

“Trouble”, I said through gritted teeth. I heard a thud, like something hitting a wall, and took my chance. In two seconds, I had my blaster out and a shot fired. I heard something shatter and the buzz of electronics frying up. The footsteps behind us stopped.

“And now we run,” I said. I don't know what prompted it, but I grabbed Glass' hand and pulled him into motion. I could have left him there. He would either have been smart enough to follow, or he would have had to deal with the consequences of his own incompetence. I shouldn't have cared at all. But I pulled on his hand, and only let go once I was sure he was going to follow me.

I tried to ignore the footsteps behind us as much as possible, and focused on the noises further down the twisting hallway. Most of them were backing off, keeping a steady rhythm aligned with ours. That was good. It meant Cecil was still looking for show-worthy pictures, not actually for revenge. Destroying one of his toys had been mean, but the guy deserved it.

We finally saw the end of the hallway approach. We kept running and emerged in a room whose light was blinding in comparison. I didn't look at the cameramen waiting for us on either side of the door, but immediately focused on finding Cecil. It wasn't very hard. The man was standing nearly in the middle of the room, next to some ancient-looking contraption that had way too many blades and spikes to keep me comfortable. I stopped running and pointed my blaster at Cecil's head.

“Call those things off.”

“Oh, Junebug!” Cecil exclaimed, a grin on his face. “That's really no way to greet a friend!” He faked a pout. “Especially after you killed one of my precious cameramen.”

“Call them off, Cecil.”

He giggled. “Junebug, Junebug. Do you really think I'll believe that you-”

I didn't let him finish. It wasn't necessary. He was going to brush off my threats in the typical Kanagawa way, with arrogance and honey in his voice.

I turned one way, then the other, and sent two blaster shots directly through the cameramen's huge lenses.

“What! No!” Cecil took a step forward, as if to wrestle with me, then realised it was useless and stopped. He looked genuinely hurt for once. I put my blaster back in its holster.

I was surprised, looking back, that Glass had a knife in each hand and was only now relaxing from his fighting posture.

Cecil gave me an angry pout. “Do you know how much those things cost to engineer?”

I shrugged. “Probably a lot. I noticed those are new models! Sorry about wrecking them already, I guess.”

“Come on, Junebug. Don't be like that! You know I'm doing all of this for you!”

This was not an argument I wanted to have in front of Glass, but Cecil had this innocent childishness combined with a total lack of morals and what could honestly be qualified as bloodthirst which kept rubbing me the wrong way.

“I've told you before that I have no desire to be in one of your shows. Ever. I don't care how dashing my last minute escape would be or for how much any singular part of my body would be insured.”

Agent Glass had now fully collected himself, though his expression stayed appropriately worried.

“We're here to talk about your dad, Cecil.”

He looked surprised at that. Of course, with a family like the Kanagawas it was always hard to know whethere their emotions were sincere or not, but I couldn't figure out what Cecil would gain from acting like this in the current situation.

“My dad?”

“Yeah, Cecil,” I said, taking the voice you use when a frustrating kindergartner just _won't_ get what you mean. “Your dad. We're trying to figure out who killed him.”

“What?!”

That was... an unexpected reaction. I had only seen Cecil Kanagawa look so scared once, and the guy had a shiny chrome arm as a souvenir of that particular occasion.

“Cecil, don't...” I had a vague suspicion, but _god_ did I want to be wrong. Every time I thought I had seen the worst this family could do, I was reminded that there's a reason you shouldn't make deals with the devil. The reason being that he is the devil and will literally always find worst things to do. Obviously the Kanagawas are the devil in this metaphor. Anyway. “You do know about your dad being murdered, right?”

“Murdered?” And he- He started crying. All over his perfect makeup. Huge crocodile tears interrupted by heartbreaking sobs.

It was... disturbing. Ugly. Cecil was a showman to the core, always perfect, always what the audience wanted. This was... too much. It gave me the creeps. More than Cecil's cheap tricks with the dark hallways and the cameramen, _this_ made me want to turn around and run for my life.

I had become quite proficient at resisting that particular instinct. It would have made my first year of employment with the Kanagawa family much harder if I hadn't.

“How can you not know?!” I almost shouted. I wasn't really angry at him. I was more angry at his mother, or his family in general. “You live in the same goddamn house!”

“Juno-” Glass interrupted me, extanding a placating hand.

And, oh, _that_ pissed me off as well. Because who was he to come in here like that? Barging into the Kanagawa mansion, totally unprepared, expecting to come out unscathed, and he dared pretend like he knew what was good for me, on top of it all?

But it wasn't the time or place to start fighting with him. That would come later.

“We're literally coming right from the crime scene. Why did you think I was here, if you didn't know anything about this mess?”

“I... I don't know!” Cecil exclaimed defensively, failing at calming himself down. “I saw you on my monitors when you entered the hallway and I didn't... I mean, I was just glad that you were visiting, I didn't know...”

“Does he usually welcome his friends by letting strange hybrid creatures loose on them?” Glass asked in a nearly whisper, eyeing the damaged cameramen on both sides of us.

I felt like he was trying to lighten the mood, but it just pissed me off even more. “We're working on that,” I replied coldly, immediately refocusing on Cecil.

He was looking at me through his tears, pathetically, a hand clenching and opening by his side. I felt like he was going to ask me for a hug, which was absolutely out of the question, even though I did kind of feel bad for him.

“Okay. Okay, Cecil.” I pinched the bridge of my nose, rubbing at the scar I have there out of habit. “Let's say that I believe you. You didn't know anything. Where were you last night?”

“Last night? I...”

“Think about it carefully, Cecil. The pretty face in a suit over there-” I pointed at Glass “-is from Dark Matters and looking for your dad's killer. You make a pretty good suspect and I'm fairly certain they won't let you keep any of your toys when they throw you in prison.” At that I gestured to the contraption full of blades Cecil was standing near to, as well as to several other torture devices scattered behind him. I try not to judge people's hobbies, but Cecil is a difficult person not to judge.

His face contorted. He seemed torn about something. Finally, he fought back his tears and looked up.

“I wasn't here last night.”

I turned towards Glass, and he reflected my unconvinced expression right back at me.

“It's true! I swear it's true! I was...” Cecil sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “I was out. All night. With Cassandra's friends.”

“What do you mean- _Cassandra_ told us _she_ was out last night.”

Cecil shook his head. “Yeah, well she wasn't!” He exclaimed, voice rising unexpectedly high. “I was grounded, but she... she said she was tired. That she didn't want to go out. So I went in her place.”

“Do you mean that...” Glass started.

I could guess what had happened. Cass and Cecil were twins, after all. They looked _very_ alike. And they also both has access to the best make-up money and extorsion could buy.

“I can show you! I swear I was out... I didn't have anything to do with Daddy... Daddy...”

He started crying again. I let out a sigh. I prefer Cecil when he's acting like the mad scientist he is. It's easier to hate him then.

“Show us your proof, Cecil. We can't do anything about your dad anymore, but with your help we might be able to figure out who killed him.”

“I... Okay...” Cecil started fiddling with his comms.

“Well, this case is getting stranger and stranger,” Glass told me as an aside. “But not in the way I was expecting.”

“Not supernatural enough for your tastes?”

“You could say that. I do wonder at the state of traditional family dynamics on Mars, that a son would not know about his father's death while living in the same mansion as the corpse.”

“I can only talk about my own family, so I'm not that surprised. But I don't exactly know how traditional one would consider my situation.”

“Is that so?”

Before Glass had the time to ask more personal questions, Cecil showed us a video.

Cassandra's face stared at us through the lens, before taking off a wig and starting to wipe her make-up. “I like to record myself when I change costume. It's always such a transformation...”

The Cecil in the video stepped away from the camera, still wearing her sister's clothes. He took off his jacket, then started peeling a layer of colored latex off of his prosthetic arm. Cecil grinned at the camera, then twirled, before ending the video.

The real life Cecil looked up at us.

“It's impressive, I'll grant you that,” I said. “And it does give weight to your story.”

“I swear I didn't do anything,” Cecil said. “I would never... I didn't have any idea that... I mean, Mother told me we were expecting people, but I didn't think it was because of...”

“Min told you...”

I turned towards Glass, who raised an eyebrow at me. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one who thought this was all very suspicious.

“Okay, Cecil. I believe you. Something else is going on here, so you're off the hook for now.” I kept an eye on Glass, watching out in case he protested. I had kind of hijacked his investigation. Although he seemed rather happy to let me handle things. “Now, is there any way out of here that doesn't involve going through the creepy hallway of death? We've got to talk to you mom.”

“Of course there is. Just take the other door. Oh, but Junebug,” Cecil said with a whining tone. “What am I supposed to _do_?”

“Just...” I looked at him for a second. I was uncomfortably aware that, under the image he projected to his audience and his overwhelming personality, there was a kid. A kid who had made a lot of mistakes and bad choices, but also a kid that had been shaped by his unhealthy environment and his desire to prove himself. Min had warned me against it several times before but... well. I could relate. “Just stay here, Cecil. Don't leave the mansion, mind your own business and... me and Agent Glass will deal with things.”

He nodded, and me and Glass finally left the room. Glass took my elbow for a second, drawing my attention to him. “That was...”

“I'm getting soft, I know,” I replied curtly, shaking out of his grip.

“I was gonna say admirable. Being kind isn't always something to be avoided, Juno.”

“It's St... Ugh.” I shook my head. “You know what? I don't care.”

Glass beamed at me like a kid at Christmas. It was gross.

“So, we're on our way to find Min Kanagawa, I presume?” Glass asked in his sing-song voice.

“Yeah. I've got a few questions for her. Like what the real reason was for her calling me.”

“I thought I was the one to blame for that one.”

“Nah. She could have had any other of her goons follow you around. And that death threat...” I shook my head. “I don't believe in curses. Then there's what Cecil said.”

“Of course.”

The door Cecil had indicated for us to take lead to his personal quarters, and from there I managed to find my way back to the center of the mansion. If there was one place I could find Min in, I assumed it would be the boss' office.

We heard the screams before we had even turned the corner.

“Where is it? Where is it, _Min_?”

I barged into the room with my blaster ready, only to see Cassandra waving a much heavier-looking gun in Min's face.

“Juno! What are you doing here, you...!”

“Calm down, Cassandra,” I said in my most gruff-sounding voice. This was the voice usually reserved to my guard-dog duties. “What's going on?”

“She stole the contract! This fucking bitch stole the-”

“Stop it with the gun, Cass. Or I'm gonna have to shoot you.”

“Oh please, Mister Steel,” Min started. “Don't harm my daughter!” Her voice was soft as honey but poisonous as a snake. The ovious subtext was that she wouldn't care a bit if I killed Cassandra, as long as I was decent enough not to leave bloodstains on the expensive carpet. Looking her in the eye, I had to force myself to think it had all been worth it.

All these years I had officially been working for Croesus, but the woman before me had always been the one pulling the strings from the shadows. Every mediocre gangster who had gotten his ass kicked, every mobster from an opposing family I had shot from a rooftop, it had all been because it fitted this woman's plans. I had to remind myself of what I had gained in this bargain. The protection it offered me. The money. A chance to do my own thing on the side, take down a few of the corrupt elements I thought had needed taking down. As long as it didn't affect any of the Kanagawas' plans, of course. All of that was what made this bargain worth it. I had to remember it, even if Min's smug face as her adopted daughter threatened her made me sick to the core.

Truth is, I liked Cassandra. I would have been more than happy to put a laser through her mother's head in her place, if I had thought I could get away with it.

“There's no need for anybody to get hurt, as long as you tell us what's going on!”

“She stole something from me! I'm just taking back what's mine!”

“When did this happen? Her taking your papers?” I could see Glass slowly creeping away from me, and held his gaze for a second to make him know I understood what he was trying to do. Then I again focused fully on Cassandra, my blaster held high to keep her attention.

“It's none of your business, Juno. “

“I thought we were friends, Cass.”

She sneered at me. “ _I_ thought we were friends. But you're always like this. Selling yourself to the first person who's happy to give you orders. When will you be using all the money we're paying you to buy yourself some morals, Juno Steel?”

She was trying to get to me, which meant she was trying to buy herself more time. Which meant that she wasn't decided about her course of action, and probably not ready to shoot anyone.

“I don't know, Cass. The economy's tough, these days. When are you going to use all the money you have to produce your darling documentaries?”

It was a low blow. I was scratching her itch just like she was trying to scratch mine. I hadn't anticipated how well it would work.

“How do you know? You-”

She pointed her gun at me.

“Glass!”

The Dark Matters agent took one long leap and grasped Cassandra's wrist, pointing the gun towards the ceiling. She tried to free herself from his grasp, kicking at him with her heels. He managed to send the blaster scattering across the ground before taking a nasty hit to the stomach. I picked up the weapon while Min looked on with a cool eye.

“Step away, Cassandra.”

Glass let go of her and she took a step towards me. I saw the fighting spirit die out from her eyes as she re-assessed the situation.

“We know you were here last night. We know it was Cecil on those videos you showed us. So why did you lie?”

“Why did I...?” She chuckled darkly. I didn't like that expression on her. That expression meant that wasn't in control of herself anymore. It meant that she felt overwhelmed, and that meant she would be unpredictible. “You don't know anything, Juno!” She kicked her father's desk, then sagged a little. “Lying is all that we do. All of us in this house. We lie for a living. Cecil lies, I lie, Min lies-” She sent the woman a raging glare at that. “and Croesus sure as hell lied a lot.”

I could see a picture forming in my mind. Cassandra had spent years telling me about the programms she dreamt. A series of documentaries that spanned the whole of the galaxy. She had also spent years incessantly pitching the idea to Croesus. She had been hopeful the last time we had talked about it, but now...

“What happened, Cassandra?”

“He'd promised me. He'd promised me to get me this show. To make my dream come true. We had made so much money with the special about the Mask, and he was ready to invest it and he'd _promised_ me.” She paused. “And then he started getting paranoid. He needed to protect the Mask, he would say. He bought that stupid case with the stupid lock that only opens with me or Cecil's blood and he just...”

She turned around and pointed an accusatory finger at Min.

“She stole the contract. The new contract that Croesus had written. He had canceled my show, _again_. Given the slot to Cecil and his toys! I tried to confront him, tried to talk to him out of view of all those cameras, but he... He wouldn't stop talking about the case, asking me if I had broken the locks, if I knew how much he had paid for that thing, I... How dare he talk about the money he had spent on a stupid display case. In front of me. When all these years he said he didn't have the money for my show! I pushed him. I didn't know the case was open! I didn't look! I... I didn't care, honestly.” She chuckled, a sound dark and half-broken. “And then the Mask ripped him apart.”

She paused there, a single tear running down her cheek. I turned around.

Sure enough, there were two cameramen in the room, their eyes trained on Cass, and Min barely trying to disguise her smirk in the background.

“Was I okay?” Cass asked, wiping an eye with her fist and leaving a trail of purple eyeliner on her skin.

I shook my head at her. “Too much for your own good.” She shrugged.

I wanted to be mad, but I couldn't. We were the same, she and I. We did what we had been taught to do.

Confusion was written all over Glass' features.

“I think it's time my daughter be taken away, now,” Min said. She snapped her fingers and two men came into the room, each gripping Cassandra by one arm.

She turned towards me. “I'm sorry Juno. I didn't write the message on the wall. I swear I didn't.”

“I know, Cass,” I replied, watching her go. “Take care of yourself.”

The men exited the room, followed by the cameramen. I walked behind Croesus' desk, opened the door of a low cupboard, and poured myself a glass of whiskey.

“So, Min.”

“Mmh?”

“How much is the show about Cassie rotting in jail gonna be worth?”

“What...?” Glass exclaimed, still not following. I tuned him out, focusing on the real predator in the room.

“Oh, Juno. How unkind of you to insinuate that I would think of profits during such a dire time.”

“Ah! The day a Kanagawa stops thinking about profit is the day they die.” I realized what I had just said, and couldn't help but smile at the irony. “And usually the next one in line finds a way to capitalize on that death.”

“That's very cold of you to say, Juno.”

“Not as cold as writing a death threat on the wall with blood just to make sure I would come and make the story interesting enough for you.”

She raised one perfect eyebrow at me. “Do you have any evidence for all those things you're accusing me of? Anything that could make someone convict me?”

“I don't. You know I don't. And it's a shame, Min. I mean that.”

I was really angry now. Angry at her, and angry at myself. I had just ruined everything I had settled for myself, just because Min had set me up against a _friend_. It was a waste. It was useless. If I started developing morals _now_ , I would never survive.

“Oh Juno. Please take the Dark Matters dog out and close the door on the way. I have work to do. And if I can give you some friendly advice... stay away from dark alleys for a while. I know it's gonna be hard for you but, you see, our family is a small business, and we can't let traitors breed among our siblings.”

So that was all the dismissal I was going to get, uh? Message understood.

“Come on, Glass,” I said. “Let's go.”

He followed me out, but started protesting as soon as we reached the hallway. “I'm sorry I can't just leave now. I still have to finish my investigation of the Mask of Grimpatheutis. Dark Matters won't-”

“There's no curse at play here, Glass. Just business and family feuds. But we can pack up your precious Mask before we leave.”

And that's what we did. I watched Glass put on his gloves, take a few more pictures of the crime scene, add some sample to the ones he had taken earlier, and then slowly disengage the Mask from the corpse's head to put it inside a large plastic bag.

Well, I didn't really watch the last part because I wasn't keen on puking out Croesus' good whiskey.

I spent all of that time thinking of what a shame it all was.

We finally walked out of the mansion, and Glass was readying himself to make a speech about how sad he was that we were parting ways when I interrupted him.

By pointing my blaster to his chest and telling him to get inside my car.

“Well, Juno, if you want to spend some more time with me, there are less violent ways to ask.”

How I resented that warm, melodic voice right then. Because, truth be told? I wouldn't have minded taking him home the right way. In any other circumstances, I would have been happy too. But I was looking for answers, and I didn't think I would get them just by asking nicely.

“I'm not joking, Glass. Or whoever. It's probably not your real name, and you're not a Dark Matters agent. I just helped send one of my friends to prison, so I'm really not in the mood for more riddles. You'll get in the car and drive me where I tell you, or I'll shoot you with a stun blast, stuff you in the trunk, and wait until you wake up to ask my questions. Your call.”

“Well, when you put it like that...”

He didn't seem fazed at all, which was a bad sign for me. This man wasn't panicking, despite me having blown his cover. He was patiently accepting the situation, waiting for an opportunity to turn it around. So it would be my job not to give him no such opportunity.

I made him take the wheel and drive us to what could be my office if my job was in any way official. As it stood, it was basically just the place I brought people to when I needed to talk to them but didn't want to let them know where I actually lived. It had the very important advantages of agreeable neighbours, soundproof walls and easy-to-clean floors. I was only barely trying to hide my gun as I had Glass walk inside of the building and to the second floor where the space I was renting was located.

I locked the door behind us.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Couldn't we have this conversation in a more civil manner? Seated and sharing a drink, for example?”

“I don't think so.” Sitting down meant furniture in the way. When I'm threatening someone with a blaster, I prefer to have a clear field between me and the target. It makes things easier, and also means I don't have to deal with blast marks all over my couch.

“Oh, well. I tried.”

“Who are you?”

He smiled. A slow, controlled grin that let his sharp teeth show. I couldn't stop staring. I knew he had probably noticed that, but I couldn't stop myself.

“I don't tell anyone my name. It would take someone _very_ special for me to reveal it.”

I shook my head. “Stop playing games. What did you want the Mask for?”

“I have no idea what you're talking about, Juno.”

I groaned. “You already admitted that your name isn't Rex Glass. I know you're not a Dark Matters agent. You're too... sloppy.”

He acted vexed at that. “Really? I thought I did a rather good job. Enough to fool the Kanagawas, at least.”

I didn't tell him that I knew an actual Dark Matters agent. I didn't tell him that a tenth of me was still in love with her from when we were different people. I didn't tell him about my brand of nightmare in which she finally realized how disgusted with me she was and decided to take matters into her own hands.

“Maybe they're just easy to fool.”

“Or maybe you're just that good, Juno,” he replied, taking up a flirty tone again. I didn't understand how he could to that while having a gun trained on him, but he did. I was impressed. “How did you find out?”

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought _I_ was the one asking questions here.”

Glass shrugged. “And I told you I would much prefer having this conversation in a civil way. What does it cost you to answer? Unless you have somewhere you need to be?”

He leaned back against my desk, long legs on display in a faux-casual manner. I felt a shiver run down my spine and decided to play the game.

I've never had the best instincts, I'm ready to admit that. I like danger too much for my own good.

“Fine. I was suspicious because of your attitude. And the fact that you knew so little. I assumed Dark Matters would have briefed one of their agents before sending them into a snake nest like the Kanagawas. Then there was the fact that you didn't wonder at the glass case being opened. Cassandra mentioned that Croesus talked about defective locks, but when we went back to pack up the Mask, you didn't take one look at them. It didn't add up. At least not if I kept on seeing you as an investigator.”

“And what do you see me as now, Mr. Detective?”

It had been a long time since I'd been called that. I had to convince myself that Glass didn't know that, that he was just using the word in a mocking way.

“A thief, presumably. And not a good one, since you got caught.”

He laughed. “Oh, I have to admit that that one hurt a little.”

“You tried to steal the Mask last night. Found a way to get past those fancy locks that Croesus installed. But you got interrupted, had to run. That's why the case was open.”

“Mmh. It's a convincing story.”

“All your posing as a Dark Matters agent was just a way to get your hands on the Mask again. But you won't get away with this.”

“I don't see why you're so upset, Juno. After the way you've been sent away, I would think you would take any opportunity to get back at the Kanagawas. Even petty theft. And, I have to say, as much as I do need to get this Mask to my client, I'm not against sharing the profits. We're not so different, you and I. We take the opportunities we're handed. I think we could make quite a team. Scamming the galaxy one planet at a time, always moving and never looking back. It could be quite an adventure, Juno.”

It was tempting. Leaving Hyperion City. Leaving Mars. Leaving this corrupted world to rot while I crossed the skies alongside a pretty man. I had never considered myself one of the smart ones. I had never even entertained the possibility of leaving. Despite that, it was tempting.

“No can do, sorry.”

Glass sighed, disappointed but not surprised. “You interest me, Juno. You try so hard to appear distant and uninterested, to pretend you don't care about anything in this world, when really you care so much it roots you to the spot.”

He didn't know me. He didn't know a thing about me. He was just a pretty face with some wit and a nice smell. I could feel myself react to his words, even though I should have known better. “I don't think I like-”

“I find it admirable.”

It threw me off. That's not an excuse for what happened next. It's barely an explanation.

In one second of carelessness, I lowered my gun a little bit. Immediately, one of his hand was on my wrist, forcing the blaster towards the ground as I reflexively pulled the trigger. I tried to punch him in the face with my other hand, but he quickly shoved me out reach, before knocing the blaster out of my hand.

Once again, I thought of how good an investment the soundproof walls were.

I feigned a hit from the left, then managed to land a punch to his shoulder. I had been aiming for the collarbone, but the guy was fast. He kicked my legs out from under me, but I saw it coming and pulled him down with me. We struggled on the floor, and I thought he would finally stay down after a kick to the chest. Instead, I found the air knocked out of me, felt my head painfully hit the floor, and looked up to see Glass straddling me, keeping my arms in place and weighing down on my chest so I couldn't move.

The weaker part of me immediately admitted that I would have loved to have looked up at him like this in other circumstances.

“Please, let's stop this game.”

He kept my wrists pinned in place with one hand and used the other to retrieve a knife from one of his coat pockets. And in that moment I realised that he could have killed me easily if he had wanted to.

“My offer was sincere. It would be quite an adventure. And even if you refuse, I don't have a reason to kill you. As long as you don't give me one. So here is another proposal.” His voice shifted from its usual liquid honey to a sharper and colder tone. “I will stand up, get Grim's Mask and walk out of this office. While I do this, you will stay right here on the floor. Then I'll close the door, and you will still be alive. You will not follow me or try to find out who I am. Or there will be consequences. You might think me an amateur, Juno, but do remember that I fooled Dark Matters and the Kanagawas. And that I can be very driven when my secrets are on the line.”

I didn't answer. I didn't know if I should. And I didn't know if I could. I was pinned to the floor, I had lost. The story should have ended there, with me getting what I deserved for helping a family like the Kanagawas for years. It should have ended in a flash of bright burning pain, and the last thing I would have seen would have been this vision of a nameless man as an avenging angel above me.

But instead he was letting me go. He was letting me go, and putting so many things on the line in the process. His threats were convincing, but if he ever had to make them true, it would take him a lot of time, energy and resources. It seemed so unnecessary considering that he could have ended all of his problems with one quick slash of the wrist across my throat.

He looked at me with what I would call wonder and longing if I still had one self-loving bone in my body. As it was, I prefered not to give it a name. It wouldn't be good for me to start believing in the sweet promises of strangers. That wasn't how life worked. That wasn't safe.

“Well. Goodbye then, Juno. It was a pleasure to meet you. Until we meet again.”

He released my wrists and stepped off. His movements were tranquil, almost languid, as if he didn't have a care in the world. I could still see the artificial lighting shine off the blade of his knife though.

I stayed where I was, frozen on the ground. I couldn't believe this was happening, and couldn't figure out what I felt about it all.

All I could think about was this one phrase, playing on repeat through my brain. “It could be quite an adventure.”

I watched him pick up the Mask and walk towards the door.

I had only known this man for a day. And we had spent it lying to each other. There was nothing between us. Nothing.

I shouldn't have felt like my heart was breaking, watching him leave like that. I shouldn't have thought of the person I could have been, and whether that person would have met him in a different way, how that would have turned out. I should have been relieved that somebody this dangerous had made the mistake of leaving me alive. I should have been relieved that he was walking out of my life, disappearing as quickly as he had appeared.

I had no reason to do what I did, which was to sit up and call after him.

“Wait.”


End file.
